Can Flipdaddy's go national with new, less-expensive burgers?

The Philly steak burger at Flipdaddy's, with onion rings and a wedge salad(Photo: Enquirer/Polly Campbell)

In December, the local burger chain Flipdaddy's filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, eight years after its first location opened.

But the Flipdaddy's CEO, on the job since March, thinks they can easily reorganize and continue. Not only that, he thinks the small local chain can go national.

CEO Tom Sacco invited me to lunch at the Newport location, and as we tried some of the new items he's added to the menu, he told me how he's applying the chain restaurant management lessons he has learned over a long career. He has helped other chains, most notably Red Robin (he invented their bottomless fries) and BJ's Brewhouse, grow from small businesses to multi-state chains. Later, I visited Flipdaddy's in Mariemont on my own.

"I think the concept of Flipdaddy's, gourmet burgers and craft beer, is underrepresented nationally," said Sacco. It's a combination that can be pitched to millennials.

Bob Dames founded Flipdaddy's in 2010, and then opened three more stores in three years. "Founders often have brilliant ideas and creativity," said Sacco. "But sometimes a founder hits a wall at a certain number of restaurants when things like systems and processes became very important." He said that the financial difficulties that Flipdaddy's had run into were mostly centered on one location, in Orange Beach, Alabama, now closed.

To turn things around, he first focused on the burgers. They had gotten to be expensive, at $14, and downsized from 7 to 5 ounces. So he renegotiated his beef supply, changed the custom mix a little, so they are now 50 percent chuck, with some brisket and short rib, and went with a butcher who would be able to supply any restaurant they open in the future. He was able to take them back to 7 ounces.

He got rid of cheap Budweiser. "We don't really want the people who come in for that," he said, and pointed out that women feel comfortable in the bar, even bringing their laptops and working. He began hiring service people for their personalities rather than their experience, creating a training model based on the slogan "Servant's Heart, Warrior's Spirit."

Then he went about adding variety to the menu. "You've got to make sure no one has a veto vote," he said. In other words, there has to be something for everyone, so no one person steers a group away to somewhere else.

Deviled eggs from Flipdaddy's(Photo: Enquirer/Polly Campbell)

This change is what most makes the menu feel like a chain. While there is a trend toward tightly focused or even single-item menus in newer restaurants, the menu at Flipdaddy's has broadened. Sacco added some trendy items like deviled eggs, a banana and Nutella sandwich, loaded shakes. There's even a version of avocado toast in an unusual avocado-egg sandwich.

He also added entrees like Nashville hot chicken, steak and ribs. He also added more kinds of burgers.

"You want something that's best in class. Some part of your menu where you can go up against the best anywhere," he said. In addition to the burgers and beer, he has chosen desserts as that best-in-class category.

New thick shakes are made with ice cream, loaded with whipped cream and garnishes. He also added a super-tall chocolate cake that is enough for three or four people, and an ice cream pie that is mostly ice cream, with an afterthought crust and some chocolate syrup.

These seemed like throwbacks to me, the kind of surprise dessert that wowed people in the '90s. And the Shanghai Mama teriyaki salad, made with bok choy but topped with fried chow mein noodles, was a real blast from the past. The "flip sticks" were tasty for sure, but are a very chain-y choice.

But the deviled eggs were good, whether with blue cheese or a chili sauce. So was the chili, the pretzel nuggets that looked like buckeyes, the fries. At an earlier time in my life, I would have happily polished off either the strawberry or the Oreo shake

So for me, the new variety didn't really enhance the experience. I wouldn't order ribs here, for instance. I'd go to a barbecue restaurant for that. If it's a burger restaurant, I'll get a burger. But I had never put Flipdaddy's at the top of my burger lists because I thought they were kind of dry and overly firm. The one we had at lunch didn't make me change my opinion.

A strawberry shake from Flipdaddy's(Photo: Enquirer/Polly Campbell)

But an important piece of information Sacco shared was that, while they cook burgers to medium, you can get them to order if you ask.

So when I went to the Mariemont location a few weeks after our conversation, I ordered the Philly steak burger medium rare.

What a huge difference it made. Now that was a good burger. It was a warm pink inside. It wasn't dripping with juice and fat, but it was tender and you could taste the beef through the peppers and onions that topped it. I got two sides, $3 each: a wedge salad with lots of blue cheese, hard-boiled egg, tomatoes and bacon, and onion rings the way I like them, with a textured coating that crunches and doesn't get too greasy. The beer selection still has some excellent picks, both national crafts and local, along with a few generics. They had Rheingest's newly-released Van Hunks, for instance. I had a glass of the Grand Mimosa from Ciderboys

The other thing about that burger: it was $8. I hadn't expected to get out of there for less than $30. But the bill for burger, two sides and a beer was $18.46.

And, they still have their genius griddled mac and cheese. They pile some cheddar on the grill, let it melt, put a spoonful of mac and cheese on top so you get a combination of the crisp cheese and the creamy mac. Eating that, I could really see Flipdaddy's going national.